by Amy Nedrow

Spiritual T.N.T

A few years ago I was in a battle, spiritually speaking, and it was no ordinary thing. God used the term Vortex to describe it to me; I hope to write a post or two about it. It was during this time I got so mad at the enemy that in my prayer time I yelled out to God asking how to get my hands on some Spiritual T.N.T, because I wanted to kick enemy butt! The phrase surprised me as I said it and has intrigued me to keep after God for what it is. This is what I feel He’s saying.

T = Time
We must redefine what is ‘Vital’ to us.
• The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10, is about Martha who is all about the work to be done, and Mary that is at Jesus’ feet listening to Him. Martha was ticked that Mary wasn’t helping her and even said something to Jesus about. Jesus commended Mary, because Mary knew what was more vital…a meal on the table or hearing Jesus…it was a no brainer for Mary, but Martha didn’t get it. This is a world of too many Martha’s. No time to hear Jesus we’ve got work to do, but John 15:4-7(AMP) tells us to live in vital union with Him. It IS VITAL that we hear direction, guidance, and wisdom from the Lord, for without it we parish. How will we be forewarned? How will we have wisdom in life without Him? The wisdom of this world leads to death, but the wisdom of God is life to us.
• To live life without God’s Scripture (Logos) and a Rhema Word is to say you don’t need Him, that you’re wise enough, and tough enough to do life without Him.I encourage you to redefine what is vital to your life.
• When God is number One in our priorities we are ahead of so many things. Troubles aren’t so troublesome when we see them coming a mile away. The enemy can’t blindside us when God is our Eyes and Ears, and the enemy can’t derail a life when God’s driving.
• Time also recharges our batteries! Weariness and spiritual dryness are places the enemy attacks. When we take time with the Lord, He strengthens us, carries our burdens, and lightens our load. Jesus is our Living Water and our Bread of Life.
• In reading the temptation of Jesus in Matt.4, we see the places the enemy targets: Hunger, Trying God, Selfish gain/greed/Power/to rule/to be in control. Tiredness is also a place the enemy loves to attack, because we’re too drained of energy and will to fight back.
• Another point in the temptation of Jesus that is a strong issue today is Offense; when the devil said to Jesus: “If you are the Son of God…” he was tempting Jesus to be offended, take the bait of offense, and defend Himself, but Jesus didn’t even go there did he? Jesus didn’t even go there when the Sanhedrin were falsely accusing Him to kill Him, because Jesus knew that God is our rewarded, our vindicator, our justice, our testimony for us! We don’t need to and shouldn’t take the bait of offense, because we know that we are the King’s Kid and He takes up for us!Time with Jesus restores us to a place of strength and refreshing so that we aren’t such an easy target. The selfishness and fleshly control are part of the next section.

N = Not Cooperating with the Enemy
Sounds easy, but are we doing it? James 4:7 says: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you”.
• Resisting, I think, has to do with renewing our mind and reducing our flesh. How do we resist something we don’t know is bad for us? The enemy loves to whisper in our minds wrong thinking, conflicts, misunderstandings, etc… and without realizing it we’ve reacted in a way that cooperates with the enemies plans for pain and destruction in our life.
• The bible says to forgive, love, encourage (and a lot more)… to apply these (the Word) is not our flesh’s desired response, and is resisting the devil. To act according to God’s Word instead our flesh is resisting the devil.It can be done, it’s just hard and takes practice, but it can be done.
• I’m not saying our flesh is the devil, but it’s true that our flesh will cooperate with him every time. When we know Jesus’ heart, when we get His Word inside our hearts and minds, when we follow His leading and are willing to let go of our fleshly need to do it our way, we will know when we’re cooperating with the enemy and how not to.

Applying scripture to what we do and say renews our minds to who we are in Christ, and removes a little more flesh each time we apply it. The less flesh, the more Jesus in us, the harder it is on the enemy to take us down.“He must become greater, I must become less” John 3:30

T = The Tongue
Thanksgiving and Testimony are two huge weapons in our arsenal. I saved these for last, because when we take time with Jesus daily, and get His Word into our hearts and minds, we have a new fountain to speak from.
• What we say has the power of life and death! James 3 We enter His Gates/Sanctuary with Thanksgiving and His Courts with Praise. What we say is vital! We have the Word of Life to refer too, so if you aren’t sure what to say, open your bible! Praying scripture out loud is powerful and creates a new vocabulary in us. A life-giving vocabulary!
• Testimony is another vital element! We build each other up in our faith when we hear of what God’s done in someone else’s life. How’s He’s healed them, how He’s restored them, how He’s transformed them…we are to be devoted to being Thankful! Col.4:2 And when we testify about what He’s done, we have more reason to be thankful. To see His actual touch on someone’s life, to hear of His movement in this world brings surety of His ability and willingness to help us, confidence that He is in control, and peace that He is there!
• God speaks through us too! He uses us to speak life to others, to encourage them, to love them, to give them hope in Him being our Hope!To speak life, to speak hope, to speak love is to damage the work of the enemy; who is all about stealing, killing, and destroying. He can’t steal hope when we are speaking hope, he can’t kill dreams when we are speaking life into them, and he can’t destroy people when we are building them up with truth and love.

These are things we try to do every day, and yet we don’t even realize just how powerful these are. Should we be surprised at how unassuming they are when we know that God’s ways confound the wise?
They are mighty weapons God’s given us, and when all three become one in us we are truly explosive to the enemy.